Parachute
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A device, generally constructed from fabric, that is designed to employ air resistance to control the fall of an object or person, causing them to float instead of falling.
- 2 rescue equipment consisting of a device that fills with air and retards your fall wordnet
- 3 A web or fold of skin extending between the legs of gliding mammals, such as the flying squirrel and colugo.
- 4 Any of various mushrooms with broad, domed caps.
- 5 A small collar which fastens around the scrotum and from which weights can be hung.
"Under that there are dildos and butt-plugs arranged by size on two shelves: two fat butt-plugs and four small ones, four two-headed dildos, eight ordinary dildos. Under that, the little material hanging on nails: five different pairs of nipple clamps, some clothespins, a parachute for the balls, a dog collar, two hoods, one in leather, one in latex, six cockrings, in steel or leather, regular or with built-in ball-squeezers, two dick sheaths […]"
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- 6 A large sheet of fabric used in children's physical education, often colorful, with handles allowing many people to control its motion.
- 1 To jump, fall, descend, etc. using such a device. intransitive
"Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth."
- 2 jump from an airplane and descend with a parachute wordnet
- 3 To introduce into a place using such a device. transitive
"The soldiers were parachuted behind enemy lines."
- 4 To place (somebody) in an organisation in a position of authority without their having previous experience there; used with in or into. transitive
- 5 To wrap illicit drugs in a covering before swallowing them, so that they will be released for absorption when the covering dissolves within the body. slang
- 1 A town in Garfield County, Colorado, United States, named after Parachute Creek; it was renamed Grand Valley in 1908, regaining its original name in the 1980s.
Example
More examples"In 1912, the Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died jumping off the first floor of the Eiffel Tower while trying out his new invention, the parachute coat, which did not work..."
Etymology
Borrowed from French parachute, from para- (“protection against”) (as in parasol) and chute (“fall”).
Related phrases
More for "parachute"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.